I
was late to the party for Ed Brubaker, I'll admit it. I didn't
discover his writing until I bought the Civil War: Captain America
trade paperback in 2007. I couldn't believe how good it was, and from
there I picked up the Captain America By Ed Brubaker Omnibus
and all subsequent Cap books, following him on Uncanny X-Men,
later discovering Criminal and more. I was completely unaware
of this title until this book was announced. It was like finding out
that a band that you love actually had a few earlier albums
available, and they were all being re-released in a gigantic box set
with all of the trimmings.

Sleeper
is a tale of secret operative parahumans involved in James
Bond level cloak and dagger capers. Holden Carver is the star of
the show, and he plays both sides...or are both sides that are
playing him? I'm not telling you, because reviews that are
essentially a synopsis and filled with spoilers suck, and you won't
find any of that here, ever. Suffice it to say that is nary a dull
moment in the 700-odd pages of this book.

Miss
Misery is fascinating, and plays the role of lover and teammate to
Carver. I kept thinking of the old Nazareth song off of the classic
Hair Of The Dog album. Blackwolf cracks me up, especially the
story of how he chose his name. Fans of 1970s comics should get a
hearty chuckle out of that.

All
ages reading this is most certainly not. Indeed, one could turn this
book into a drinking game, doing a shot for each curse word or bullet
fired. You would die of alcohol poisoning by the end of the book if
you did this, but it might prove fun if done by story arc. Let me
know how that turns out for you.

All
of the ingredients that fans of Criminal and Fatale
love are here, but the soup hasn't come to a boil yet. Instead of
being great this merely really, really good. This would make a
great stocking stuffer for the more discerning comic book fan on your
Christmas shopping list...provided that the nails on your fireplace
mantle can hold a stocking with a 5.2 pound book in it. (2.36
kilograms for readers in the non-English measuring system world
outside of the United States, Liberia, and Burma).

Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The
OCD zone- A long, long time ago, in a house about a half an hour
away...I made a video showing my disgust with the binding of DC's
Omnibus hardcovers when compared to Marvel's. It got picked up by
Bleeding Cool and even got the attention of Dan DiDio. DC actually
fixed the binding of their Omniboo because of a crusade started in no
small part by me on a message board in the early days of 2012. If I
accomplish nothing else in life, I at least helped convince DC to
switch to sewn binding on their Omnibus books. I have helped make the
world a better place for everyone, and that makes me happy. My
selflessness knows no bounds. I'm like the OCD Mother Theresa or
Ralph Nader or something.

No,
I really don't take myself that seriously. Smile, folks.

DVD-style
Extras included in this book: Last Words,
an afterword by Ed Brubaker from 2009. (1 page)

Pin-up
page by Sean Phillips, signed 2001. (1 page)

Logo
and layout sketches (1 page)

Cover
sketches for Sleeper Season One #1 (1 page)

Cover
pencils for Sleeper Season One #2 (1 page)

Cover
color and inks for Sleeper Season One #3 (1 page)

Cover
inks for Sleeper Season One #4 (1 page)

Cover
sketches for Sleeper Season One #10 and #4 (1 page)

Cover
pencils for Sleeper Season One #10 (1 page)

Cover
sketches for Sleeper Season One #10, 11, 12 (1 page)

Cover
inks for Sleeper Season Two #2 (1 page)

Cover
inks for Sleeper Season Two #3 (1 page)

Cover
sketches for Sleeper: All False Moves and Sleeper: Out In
The Cold TPBs (1 page)

Cover
art for Sleeper: The Long Way Home TPB (1 page)

Cover
art for Sleeper: The Long Way Home TPB (1 page)

Cover
art for Sleeper: Out In The Cold TPB (1 page)

Sleeper
Season One #1 issue layouts/pencils (6 pages)

Point
Blank #1 variant cover and sketches
by Colin Wilson (2 pages)

Character
sketches by Colin Wilson (3 pages)

Paper
rating: 5 out of 5. This book has beautiful glossy coated stock
paper, which is ideal for material with modern computer coloring.

Binding
rating: 4.75 out of 5. See The OCD zone for more details.
Needless to say, I am happy. My crusade was one for the benefit of
the people of Earth, and now my Sleeper Omnibus lays flat,
give or take 20 pages in the front and back of the book.